Why We Need Mineral Supplementation

Major Minerals and Trace Minerals

Minerals are grouped into two categories. Those that are considered to be required in our diets in amounts greater than 100 milligrams per day are called major minerals (calcium, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium and sulphur). Those considered to be required in our diets in minute amounts (less than 100 milligrams/day) are called trace minerals. Each makes up less than 1/100th of one percent of our body weight. But that small amount is essential! But why do we need mineral supplementation?

Agriculture Changes

During the period in which human biochemistry evolved, man had an extremely varied diet, selecting food from wherever it could be found in the wild. The soil the plants and fruits grew in contained a wide spectrum of minerals and nutrients. When agriculture developed, we moved away from getting food growing in a variety of soils to food from just a few areas. However it was soon found that if you cropped the same land year after year, the soil became exhausted and crop quality and yield declined. Wind and rain erosion also began to take its toll.

The Best farms used to be on River Flats

Quite often the rivers would flood, depositing a new batch of nutrients into the soil. Think of the Nile in Egypt. The richest agricultural land in Australia is on alluvial river flats which used to flood regularly- eg the Northern Rivers of NSW. Even though the Snowy Mountains scheme has stopped the yearly floods that used to race down the river many years ago, the land at the the mouth of the Snowy at Orbost in Victoria is still some of the richest and most productive land in the country.

Food Processing Losses

As if the depletion of the soil isn’t bad enough man continues to lose more minerals from food by refining it. As the following example from “Minerals and Your Health” by Len Mervyn, Ph.D. (Keats Publishing, 1981) shows mineral loss when refining flour:

Modern Agriculture

Now look at present day agriculture.

• Flood control has eliminated the regular natural replenishment of soil.
• Soil erosion is a major problem. We are losing rich mineral-containing topsoil (for every ton of wheat grown, we lose many ton of topsoil). The 1992 Earth Summit estimates that Australian soil is 50% depleted. America is even worse, with 100% depletion in some cases. See 1992 Earth Summit for details.
• Farmers are paid on yield, not quality, so they have no incentive to add any more than the minimum needed (NPK).
• Over processing and refining of food reduces the few minerals that are present. See mineral loss in food processing
• Our modern lifestyle means many people don’t even eat the government recommended amounts of fruit and veggies. How many people do you know eat sufficient fruit and veggies each day? According to Dr. Gladys Block, Professor of Public Health and Nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley, “Only 9% of the population eats the recommended 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.”
• No Taste Means Probably No Minerals: For a simple confirmation of the effect of lack of minerals, look at the difference in taste between a home grown tomato and the mass produced variety.

So WHAT is the solution?

There are many supplements on the market today that do make differences in combating this issue, BUT, the majority are manmade and do not carry the full spectrum of trace minerals and vitamins that we need.  There IS a product, by the name of Body Balance from Life Force International, which is a WHOLE FOOD that does contain the full spectrum of nutrition that we are lacking.  Body Balance contains all Major Vitamins, 120 Trace Minerals, Enzymes, Amino Acids, Glyconutrients, etc. Osteoprocare is another powerful mineral supplement made by Life Force.

Please visit our site at http://thebalanceyouneed.com/ to learn more about this fantastic product.